Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s maintenance of one of its cemeteries, because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council is not adequately maintaining one of its cemeteries compared to others, and there are inconsistencies in cemetery maintenance across the area. Mr Y also complains there was failure in the Council’s complaint handling as it refused to escalate his complaint to stage two.
2. Mr Y says the issue has caused him distress and frustration when visiting graves and he feels his concerns aren’t taken seriously.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr Y.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr Y complained the Council wasn’t maintaining one of its cemeteries to the same standard as its other cemeteries.
7. The Council in its complaint response says that all its cemeteries are maintained to the same standard. The Council says that all cemeteries have the same number of grass cuts, are maintained by the same team, using the same equipment and processes. It says the cemeteries are different in layout and age. The cemetery Mr Y is complaining about is an older cemetery with more headstones per section. Due to the tighter layout, more manual work is done there, which can make maintenance seem slower.
8. The Council explained its maintenance schedule for the cemetery, the maintenance work done for the winter of 2025, and future plans.
9. The Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977 (Section 4(1) governs maintaining cemeteries. The Council must keep the cemetery in good repair and order. As the Council has set out how it is maintaining the cemetery, its maintenance schedule and how cemetery maintenance standards are the same across all sites; there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating.
10. Mr Y also complained about the Council’s refusal to investigate his complaint at stage two.
11. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue, so we will not investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman